Rupturable bung



July 12, 1955 w CURRY 2,712,879

RUPTURABLE BUNG Filed May 20, 1952 INVENTOR. W4 4] B1. KB

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United States Patent RUPTURABLE BUNG William G. Curry, Agawam, Mass., assignor to Norman Parke Company, Chicopee, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 20, 1952, Serial No. 288,864

2 Claims. (Ci. 217-110) My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a rupturable bung and is directed more particularly to the provision of a bung or plug for service as a stopper for the large opening or bunghole in the bulge of a cask The common bung used in the past has consisted of a merely thick circular piece of wood. Wooden bungs have the common objection that they are never truly round and this is so due to the difficulty in shaping them because of the grain of the wood. These wooden bungs depend upon the absorption of moisture for their sealing action, the wood employed usually being very porous.

It has been the experience of those connected with industries where casks are employed that approximately one out of ten of the bungs of the Wooden type is what is referred to as a leaker.

In the beer brewing industry, the common practice is to take corrective action in the case of leakers by setting another bung on top of the bung in question and drive the new one into position in the opening by driving the deficient bung into the barrel. The taste of the brew is aflected by the wooden bung floating in the barrel.

By means of the bung of my invention, means is provided whereby the bung may be inserted more easily into the cask opening than has heretofore been possible due to the perfect cylindrical shape of the bung obtained by and during its formation, all as will presently be observed in this specification.

At the present time with approximately thirty million barrels per year being used in the beer industry alone, it will be appreciated that the need for an improved bung is of paramount importance, more particularly in view of the fact that each barrel is likely to be filled at least twice during the year.

Bungs turned fromwvood are seldom, if ever, round even when turned as accurately as present manufacturing facilities will permit. They are readily dented and they inevitably develop flat spots from impact. Moisture brings about still other changes in the shape of a wooden bung. Furthermore, a wooden bung readily develops cracks and checks due to mallet impact.

In the construction of the device of my invention, the sawdust is compacted and pressed into the desired shape to form a self-sustaining substantially rigid body.

According to my invention, a bung is molded from sawdust and has a somewhat resilient sheath or coating. The molding operation provides a bung which is perfectly cylindrical and has a hard outer zone or case and a less hard ductile core. Such a hung is not afiected by climatic conditions; it is not dented and flattened by mallet impact; and it is uniform in all important characteristics.

According to the novel features of my invention, a bung, so as to be perfectly cylindrical, is molded in such a manner as to have a relatively hard peripheral outer zone or case and a relatively less hard or more ductile core, and is covered with a sheath or coating which functions as a protection.

The structure of my bung, together with the fact that it has a protective coating whereby it is not readily dented and does not flatten as does a wooden bung on impact, results in a bung which is superior to a wooden bung.

One of the primary purposes of my invention is to provide structural and operational improvements in devices of the class to which reference has been made, which improvements not only simplify the structure as such but also provide important, distinct advantages in strength, durability, rupturability and the like.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved construction which will eliminate the now present objectionable inconveniences experienced at breweries and the like when it is desired to remove the wooden bungs of the presently employed type. Such wooden bungs are usually split by manually operated tools and there is the ever present possibility that the chips or broken pieces of the bung will fall into the barbarrel after the bung has been ruptured.

All of the above objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangements of parts thereof, as will fully appear by a perusual of the description below and by various specific features which will be hereinafter set forth.

To the above cited and other ends and with the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the device of my. invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 11 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In the following description and claims, various details will be identified by specific names for convenience. These names, however, are intended to be as generic in their application as the artwill permit.

Referring now to the drawing more in detail, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures, and referring more particularly to the preferred form of my invention selected for illustrative purposes, I have shown a solid body which is formed from comminuted sawdust which is compacted or pressed so as to providea solid self-sustaining body adapted to serve as a bung for the purpose intended and likewise adapted to be readily distintegrated when and as desired as will be presently observed.

The relatively rigid body 10 formed from the compressed mass of sawdust is circular in shape and has an outside tapered side wall 12 providing upper and lower faces 14 and 16 respectively of differing diameters which serve as outer and inner ends for the insertion into and closing of the bunghole in a cask or the like.

The body is provided with a centrally disposed open depression of a certain depth and diameter extending downwardly from the upper face 16 thereof and a socket therebelow of a diameter less than the diameter of the open depression.

The open depression is formed by relatively converging sides 18 which extend downwardly and away from the upper face 14 and converge toward the center of the body.

The open depression has an outer perimeter 20 disposed inwardly of the perimeter 22 of the upper face 14 of the body 10.

The sides 18 of the open depression terminate at their lower ends adjacent the upper perimeter formed by the vertically extending walls 30 of the socket.

The socket extends downwardly of the plane of the lower ends of the sides 18 and has a closed bottom 32 disposed inwardly of the lower face 16 of the body.

A pair of slots 40 are disposed in the body radially relative to the depression and extend downwardly into the body from the upper outer perimeter 20 of the depression at theupper face of the body to substantially the plane of the lower ends of the sides of th depression.

"The radially disposed slots terminate on their outermost planes inwardly of the perimeter 22 of thebody.

The device isv designed to be ruptured while in its position in a bunghole and same is accomplished by the in sertion into the depression of a drill, or any similar rotative boring tool having; two or more cutting edges.

The tool for which the bung is principally designed is that type of drill which has a drill having, a point at its outer extremity which is insertable into the socket or smaller opening in the bung, all to the end that a thinner wall is presented thereat for the drill to break through upon rotation.

'The cutting edges of the tool, being normally spaced 1 rearwardly of the point are adapted to embrace the walls 18 of the depression. mencing its cutting action and aid in the rupturing or disintegrating of the hang. The cutting edges are adapted to initially engage the slots 40 upon rotation thereof whereby the cutting is initiated. V In carrying out my invention, dry sawdust is employed and is mixed with a thermosetting compound.

Preferably hard-wood sawdust is employed as from birch, maple, or beech trees and same is thoroughly dried {1:

before combining with the compound. Such material is not costly and may be readily mixed with the compound and compressed into a mold in the desired shape and size sov as to provide a relatively hard and lightweight unit.

A compound in the form of a powder has been found to be well suited for the practice of the invention, and is known as resorcinalformaldehyde. About one pound of the compound is mixed with approximately seven pounds of the sawdust.

A preliminary'thorough mixing or intermingling of the 7 compound and sawdust is desirable'for the best results and this may be accomplished in a tumble-barrel or in any other well known manner.

Suflicient amounts of mixed sawdust and compound are enclosed in a mold in a suitable press of any conventional design and are subjected to heat and pressure to bring about polymerization;

The amount of admixture will be such as to provide a bung of the desired density and hardness.

The natural resins and oils in the sawdust and in the compound facilitate the cohesion of the mass into a compact and perfectly round bung of the desired dimension. It is to be pointed out that the problem of making a cylindrical object of accurate dimension is simplified when the mass is pressed into the desired shape by means of a mold The slots assist the tool in corn-.

as above described as compared with the multiplicity of considerations which must be taken into account when the cylinder is shaped from a wooden block on a wood turning lathe'as in the case of the commonly used wooden bungs.

The compound subjected to heat and pressure binds the sawdust together so as to form a rigid body having the desired hard case and ductile core.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics there-- ofr. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore tobe considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive,- the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the fore going description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of r equivalency of the appended claims are therefore intended body and terminating in a bottom spaced upwardly from the lower face of the body, said socket having an open upper side and extending downwardly from said bottom on the longitudinal axis of the body, said depression having sides converging inwardly anddownwardiy from the upper face'of the body and terminating at the bottom thereof around the said socket and having an upper peripheral edge spaced radially inwardly of the peripheral edge of the upper face of the body, said slots extending downwardly from the upper face of the body through the sides of the depression and being disposed V in a plane extending through the longitudinal axis of the body and terminating at said bottom.

2. A bung set forth in claim 1 wherein said slots have outer ends which relatively converge downwardly inwardly of the converging outer sides of the body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 501,058 Diebolt July ll, i893 572,365 McCorkindale Decv IV 1896 1,112,600 Davisonr a Oct. 6, l9l4 2,549,563 Barnstead Apr. l7, 1-951 FOREIGN PATENTS 394,515 France T Nov. 28. 334,057 Great Britain Aug. 28, 1930 497,019 Great Britain 2 Dec. 12, 1933 Great Britain July 27, i943 

